Former policeman with US Marshal pleads guilty to dealing drugs

ATLANTA -- A former police officer with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute drugs.

According to a release sent by US Attorney Sally Yates, Dwayne Penn was a police officer with the Clayton County Police Department and assigned to the U.S. Marshal's Service Fugitive Task Force. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine.

Yates said, "Penn was a drug dealer with a badge. He used his official position to traffic drugs and now faces a significant sentence for his betrayal trust."

According to Yates, in August 2013, Penn conspired with Adrian Austin, an Atlanta-based drug dealer, to stage the fake traffic stop of a car that he and Austin believed would contain six kilograms of cocaine. They planned a fake arrest of the car's occupant, to take the cocaine for themselves and then sell it.

However, the person whom Penn and Austin sought to recruit was cooperating with federal law enforcement and agreed to record the meetings with Penn and Austin.

Penn and Austin were arrested shortly after their planned "drug bust" on the morning of August 28. Penn was fired from the Clayton County Police Department and the Marshals Service Task Force on that same date.

Adrian Austin pleaded guilty to the same charge on January 14.

As part of the plea deal, Penn and Austin agreed to a binding 10-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

Penn is scheduled to be sentenced on February 21. Austin is scheduled for sentencing April 10.